Customer Reviews

The Tropical Marine Fish Survival Manual: A Comprehensive Family-By-Family Guide to Keeping Tropical Marine Aquarium Fish

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Every book has its strength and weaknesses. To criticize this book for lack of reef information is unfair because this book was targeted towards the audience who either have not owned a fishtank before or who has freshwater experience but getting into salt water setup with fish only tank. I read the book cover to cover in a very short time and I feel that I've learned so much in just two hours which I would not have if I read a "more detailed" book. I got an excellent overall view of the marine fish keeping, the physiological differences between salt and fresh water fish, the evolution between the two, etc. The colorful brilliant photos printed on high quality paper for popular marine fishes is worth keeping the book for its price as a quick reference to show friends. My personal favorite and if not the only reason to keep this book is the picture of the "Picasso Triggerfish". Literally, that fish looks like an artist random dabs and stroke colorful paint all over the fish's body and it has the personality of a true pet who sleeps like a hog and rearrange and personalize its own shelter. Doesn't that make you want to go out and collect such an adorable fish? That is a mark of a good book to inspire a beginner to study more and to learn more so that one day you can keep one of those. If Clown Triggerfish cost over a hundred, that Picasso (Rhinecanthus Aculeatus) must cost much more! Reason for not being a 5 star is that this book could have gone into more detail into the poison of the Mandarin fish and how it may or may not be harmful to its surrounding ecology and fish. I really don't understand why the author would put such information to make a reader curious yet not satisfy their curiousity? Points OFF. Also, I think the tank setup is a bit outdated and I would recommend visiting a local marine fish store or the internet for updated filters/skimmers currently available. Can't really blame the author because the book was written about 8 years ago and wet/dry filtration would be too expensive for most beginners back then. Reason for not being a 3 is that each photo selected for this text is meticulously hand picked to represent the most beautiful of breed, not just some randomly obscure photo as in most pocket hand books for fish identification. Solid, easy to flip quality photo book to show friends.

Excellent overview book to guide a beginner for introducing the types of marine fishes available to help them decide what kind of fish they would like to keep in their collection. Unless you already own a more comprehensive photo handbook, this book is a good place to start.

I was originally attracted to this aquarium text because of the photographic identification of marine fish commonly kept in the aquarium hobby. This aspect of the reference does a fundamental but solid job of providing necessary data on temperament, hardiness, feeding requirements, and scientific names. The text itself is well written and does provide the bare basics regarding the requirements for establishing an aquarium. In this way it appears if this book was adapted from a text formatted for freshwater aquariums. Even the pictures of steps for aquarium set up look like a freshwater tank. Brief descriptions of the mechanics of marine lighting and filtration are discussed, but in my opinion are inadequate. Especially with regard to the dynamics and interactions of equipment. No discussion of live rock nor the significance of coralline algae are included. This is probably based on their original association with reef tanks. The pretense and suggestion of this book is that reef or invertebrate tanks should be avoided for the first year or two. Whether or not this is true, most aquarists will eventually advance to these additional organisms. Considering this, it would be advantageous for the aquarist to be informed of necessary equipment and equipment limitations in greater detail. This potentates a less frustrating and more financially efficient transition during advancement in the hobby. Especially if the aquarist does not have to buy completely new systems because original ones can not be adapted to accommodate new specimens. Ironically, statements such as "this is the look we are shooting for" are all pertaining to photographs of reef aquariums with living corals. Although competently covering the basics and well photographed, I would suggest that beginners choose a more comprehehsive text especially if they have any experience in the aquarium hobby.

It gives good identification of commonly available marine fish with a lot of great photos in high quality prints. It is specially useful as an aid to choosing fish. Pretty basic on setup and disease. Overall, it is a good beginner book for stocking a fish only aquarium system.

I've owned this book for some time. I was surprised that more people have not given it a thumbs up. It's not a comprehensive guide, but the description of many commonly available fish is informative and useful.

The author (or his 'consultant') have several mistakes in this book - amongst the species descriptions for example, they say the Catalina Goby "will thrive in a tropical invertebrate aquarium" though "Not a true tropical animal..." WRONG. This fish will perish quickly in a tropical environ. There is a photo of Engineer/Convict Gobies identified as catfish! And the author highly recommends a Cleaner Wrasse in every system - foolish, these are obligate cleaners and should be left on the reef. They'll harass your other fish like crazy, and usually refuse regular food. The coverage of system setup, maintenance and disease are very, very lightweight, and rather outdated. If you're looking to get started in Marine Aquariums, buy a book from John Tullock or Robert Fenner. They're more expensive, but worth every penny. This one belongs on the shelves of elementary schools' libraries - well, even that's not fair to elementary students!

Being excellent for beginners as well as anyone who has an amount of marine fishkeeping, this book goes into descriptive detail on some of the most common marine fish families that are kept in the hobby. It provides species specific info for many species of marine fish which include temperament, level of difficulty (for keeping), as well as if it is reef safe or not. Four stars though as it doesn't go into reefkeeping.

I bought this book in 1996 when I was thinking of going from freshwater to saltwater. I found the information extremely helpful in making general decisions regarding stocking the tank. The rating system of 1-10 for each fish's ease of care has proven true over and over again. The fish the authors chose to describe are very common in the aquarium trade. If nothing else, it prevented me from making disastrous choices regarding tank mates. This is a beginner's book, an introduction to the world of saltwater. If I had read "Natural Reef Aquariums" by Tullock first, I probably would never have set up a tank. I would have thought that marine fishkeeping was too expensive and complicated for me, when in fact it has been very rewarding and worth the effort and the price! Maybe this should be classified with one of those "For Dummies" books because it provides an easy to read, enjoyable introduction, but you would never consider it to be your only reference. This book was lost while I was visiting my mother in the hospital and I missed it so much, I bought another. I'm glad I still have it in my library along with the other, more detailed, books. I rate it 4 stars because it's an excellent starting point.

This book is basicly a fish guide, and that's fine because that's what I expected from it. The problem is it only gives maybe a paragraph or 2 per group of fish, and then only a paragraph on about 4-8 of the particular species. The info about the fish is fine for the most part, I just expected a more fish info and less pictures and large fonts.

The bottom line is, I wouldn't buy this book again and I'll keep it if for no other reason then the pictures are very nice.